Just You And Me, Baby
by Princess Pinky
Summary: Piper kicks her sisters out of the Manor to create a special evening to tell Leo that she's finally pregnant.


A/N: I should've done this a LONG time ago. Okay, so here goes. This is a one-shot fic about the missing scene between "Witch Way Now?" and "A Witch's Tail, Part One," where Piper tells Leo that she's pregnant. Yes, P/L is probably the biggest _Charmed_ ship of all and the only one I've put off doing a one-shot. I'm sorry! lol But here is it now. (This is for you people who've been begging for one.) Be warned, I'm a hopeless romantic. lol

_**Just You And Me, Baby**_

Phoebe Halliwell skipped into the kitchen with a broad grin across her face. She looked like a plotting five-year-old as she smiled at Piper, who was bent over sticking a metal sheet of twelve balls of chocolate chip cookie dough into the oven. Phoebe slipped quietly across the floor and reached for the plate of hot cookies that Piper had just taken out. As her finger connected with the rim of one of the gooey, chocolate delights she felt a sharp sting and pulled her hand back. "Ow!"

"Those are not for you, missy!" Piper Halliwell snapped her dish towel at her little sister's rump, prompting a whale and childish frown before Phoebe backed away from the steaming plate.

Hearing snickers behind her, Phoebe turned around to see her younger sister smirking at her from the doorway.

"You just got told," Paige Matthews gloated.

Phoebe wrinkled her nose and stuck a playful tongue out at Paige, the latter of which just rolled her eyes. Turning pleadingly to Piper, she stuck out her lower lip. "Pleeeease Piper," she begged, "just one little cookie?" She held up her index finger to emphasize her point.

"No!" Piper lightly whipped her towel at Phoebe until she had successfully shooed her over to Paige and out of the kitchen. "They're for Leo," she said with a sudden glowing smile. "For when I tell him about…" She placed her hand to her flat belly. "…the baby."

"But it's really not fair to taunt us with heavenly smells, Piper," Paige protested. Her eyes peered past Piper, over to the island where the heavily coveted plate of cookies lay.

Piper purposefully stepped into Paige's line of vision. "Why don't you two go work off the last cookies you," she eyed Paige, "stole from my last batch?"

"Oh come on," the youngest witch said playfully. She batted Piper's shoulder lightly. "It was just a little playful orb or two."

"Try four," Piper counter, wrinkling her nose. "And let me be the first to say that if you try that again, you're in for a big surprise."

"Is that so?" Paige challenged. She held up her hand, ready to orb another few cookies for herself and Phoebe, only to be rewarded by the loud smack of Piper's dish towel.

"Hah!" Phoebe chirped in delight, before darting out of the way as Piper swung the towel back around for her. "Oh!"

"And don't come back now, ya here!" Piper placed her hands on her hips, staring smugly as her sisters ran for the front door.

"We're coming back with baby things!" Phoebe's voice hollered from the other room.

Piper rolled her brown eyes. It wasn't often that she'd had any real sisterly time with her sisters, but today had been all about just that. It had been only yesterday that she, Phoebe, and Paige had discovered that she was pregnant, courtesy of the Angel of Destiny. With the reality sinking in, it had all been hugs and kisses and giggles and baby talk. It was almost like old times. Almost.

Piper let out a little sigh as the timer went off. She hurried over to the oven where she slipped on a pair of oven mitts that were supposed to look like pork chops, and then pulled down the down. She let a small smile appear on her face as she retrieved her fifth tray of perfectly golden brown chocolate chip cookies.

Moving to the island, she grabbed a spatula and began to slide them easily atop the already cooling cookies, which Phoebe and Paige had been so attracted to. Her smile dimmed. _The only thing missing now_, she thought, _is Prue._ Her heart gave a little tug as she slid the last cookie onto the plate.

Piper's eyes lifted to the ceiling as she thought about her raven haired, blue eyed older sister. Piper loved Paige, she really did. Even if she didn't tell it to her, she loved the newest Charmed One with all her heart. But nothing could replace the pain she felt over losing Prue. _Nothing_, she thought, _can replace a big sister._

Piper slipped off her mitts and placed them next to the cookie tray. Her hand moved to her stomach as she envisioned little Melinda Halliwell, the sweet brown eyed little girl she'd seen roughly two years earlier. She often wondered how the events leading up to that future had been.

She wondered about herself and Leo, and why they'd gotten a divorce. She'd wondered about her daughter's powers, which she promised to never use. She wondered about Paige. She even wondered, now that she knew of Paige, if they would have discovered her if she, Prue, and Phoebe had not changed Phoebe's fate.

Piper also remembered how Prue had cried in the car when she found out how isolated her life had become. This was the one thing that gave Piper solace over Prue's death: now she could finally be with the only person she'd ever loved, Andy Trudeau. Looking towards the ceiling, Piper softly murmured, "I hope you're happy, Prue. I hope you both are."

"Who're you talking to?"

Piper spun around at the sound of her husband's voice. Her face brightened. "Hey," she said with her biggest smile. She seemed, in Leo's opinion, to light up the entire room.

"You've been busy," Leo noted. His eyes flicked to the large plate of cookies. "Can I?"

"I made them for you."

Leo's brows rose as he walked over to his wife and hesitantly reached for one of the hot cookies. "You made them for me?" He questioned. "What's the occasion?" The whitelighter winced as he touched the cookie with the tip of his fingers.

"Oh!" Piper took his hand and blew across the red mark on his finger. "Those just came out of the oven." She motioned to the cookies beneath the first layer. "You should've aimed for one of those."

Leo smiled at Piper's motherly concern. But there was something beneath the surface that he just couldn't quite put his, now burnt, finger on. "Is something wrong?"

"What?" Piper looked up, genuinely surprised. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you're making cookies out of the blue and you're acting like you're on cloud nine."

"Hmm…" Piper murmured. She placed her hands on her hips. "I'm a chef and cooking me happy…very suspicious indeed."

"So nothing's wrong?"

Piper shook her head. "Here." She pulled one of the cookies from the middle of the stack and edged it towards her husband's mouth. "Try."

Leo nibbled at the chocolate chip masterpiece as Piper slowly fed it into his mouth.

"Oh."

"What?"

"You've got some chocolate," Piper grinned. Her index finger softly grazed the corner of his mouth, wiping away the melted substance. Her eyes sparkled.

"You know," the whitelighter said slowly, "you…" His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his arms. "…are going to make a magnificent mother some day."

Piper beamed as she shut her eyes, trying desperately to hold in her excitement. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Piper pressed her head into Leo's chest, contended to be in his warm embrace. It was the only thing she could do to keep from blurting out her news to him right then and there.

"So," the blonde asked again, "what's the occasion?"

"For what?"

"For the cookies," Leo whispered in an almost seductive fashion. "Did you have something planned?"

"Maybe…"

"Like what?"

Piper shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"C'mon, you can tell me."

"What d'ya say to tonight?"

"Tonight?" Leo rested his chin on the top of his wife's brunette head. "What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner."

"Dinner," Leo said aloud. "Now there's something we haven't done in a while." His hands slipped lower, now sliding down the curves of his wife's body. "Will your sisters be joining us?"

"Nope," she chirped. "I used my powers of persuasion into getting them a couple of comp tickets to the grand opening of a new restraint downtown, and they'll be there all evening."

"So let me get this straight: Phoebe and Paige will be gone all evening and you're inviting me to dinner for a special occasion?"

"Yes."

"Sounds fancy."

"Oh, definitely." As Leo's arms encircled her waist, she placed her hands over his and held them there.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"You're just so happy today…"

"I can't be happy in my husband's arms?"

Leo nuzzled his face into the curve of his wife's neck. "Of course you can. I'm just…surprised. But in a good way." He softly kissed the tender skin just below her ear.

Piper's eyes closed in reaction to his touch. Tingles of warm passion wormed their way through her body. "Mmm, Leo," she said, fighting against the natural spell he was placing on her. "Tonight."

Leo ran a hand through her long, glossy brown hair. "Tonight," he repeated, slightly disappointed. Although at the same time, a type of mystery and excitement was coursing through his veins. He couldn't even remember the last time he and Piper had been able to have a romantic dinner at home, alone. He kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tonight."

"Seven," Piper specified.

"Seven." His hand brushed her cheek as he disappeared in a spray of blue and white spheres of light.

Placing her hand to her stomach she whispered, "Daddy is going to be so excited."

----6:58 P.M.----

The dining room table was set for. Two plates roast pork with gratin of fennel and penne with a port giblet sauce sat opposite each other. Hand painted, crystal flute wine glasses were filled to the near top with sparkling golden liquid, and at the end of the table, an opened bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider sat in a silver bucket of ice.

The witch dipped her hand into the pocket of her little dress and pulled out a small, hand written note. Her brown eyes washed over the words and then she folded it neatly. Her heart was racing for Leo to finally read it. It was a little cheesy, in her opinion, but she didn't think a little romantic cheese in a relationship was always such a bad thing. Gently, she reached over and tucked the note under a burgundy colored cloth napkin.

Piper placed her hands together in excitement. She'd outdone herself tonight. The lights were dimmed and two white candles sat to the sides of the place settings. Piper leaned over the table with a lighter and lit each of them, causing a soft orange glow to light up her face and superimpose her shadow onto the wall.

"Wow."

Piper blushed as she heard a little gasp from behind her. Turning slowly, she found Leo standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Thanks," she beamed, "I spent a lot of time on it."

"Not that," Leo said, completely ignoring the table setting. "You." He moved to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her close. "You look amazing."

Rosy blush bloomed in Piper's cheeks. Leo was right, she did look amazing. She'd dug into the back of her closet and pulled out a strapless black dress that revealed a conservative amount of skin, in classic Piper style; not too much, but just enough to keep someone interested.

"If I'd known tonight was going to be formal, I would've dressed for the occasion."

Piper lightly slapped his chest. "You're fine, Leo."

Leo glanced down at his own blue jeans and plaid shirt. Despite his wife's words, they just didn't seem to fit the occasion. "Are you sure you don't want me to change?"

"I'm sure." She took his hand and led him over to the table, where she moved to grab for the seat but he stopped her.

"In my time," Leo said gently, "a gentleman always pulls the chair out for the lady." Leo took the chair by the back and pulled it out, then motioned his hand for his wife to take a seat.

Piper bit her lip lightly. She had planned to sit on the other side, hence her note. However, not wanting to spoil the mood, she accepted and sat down. "Thank you."

Leo grinned as he moved around the table and sat down in his own chair. "It smells wonderful, Piper."

"It's one of my favorite recipes."

Leo reached for the flute glass and picked it up. "To tonight?"

Piper carefully lifted her own glass and clicked it with Leo's. "To tonight."

The whitelighter placed the rim to his lips. As the golden liquid flowed into his mouth, he let out a surprised noise.

Piper chuckled.

"Apple cider," Leo said, recovering from his shock.

"Not what you were expecting?"

"No, not exactly."

Piper set her glass down. "I thought I'd change it up a bit…that's okay with you, isn't it?"

Leo reached across the table and touched his wife's hand. "Anything's okay, as long as I'm with you."

"Good." She watched him reach for his fork, and then she took that as her cue. Her hands raised, as if to catch a ball, and then her husband became stationary. Piper slipped her hand under her napkin and retrieved the small note, which she leaned over and slipped under Leo's napkin. Getting back into position, she motioned her hands and unfroze her husband. "Don't forget your napkin."

"Oh," Leo blushed, "right." As he grabbed the corner of the napkin, he mumbled, "I mean, that's what you put them out for, right?"

Piper just nodded as she tucked her own napkin into her lap.

Leo pulled the burgundy cloth from the table and as he began to tuck it into his lap, his powder blue eyes spied the note. He looked to Piper curiously, who merely shrugged. Then he picked up the note and began to unfold it. He could feel Piper's watchful eyes the whole time. His heart began to beat a little faster as he contemplated what she had in store for tonight.

"'Roses are red, violates are blue, we're having a baby, and I couldn't be more in love with you.'" At first the whitelighter seemed to stare at the note for a moment, not allowing the message to fully sink in. Then he looked up, his eyes wide and his mouth forming a small hole. "Is this…are you really…"

Piper just nodded her head.

"Piper!" Leo stood up, his eyes glistening in the candlelight. "I can't believe this." He moved around the table, almost as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. Piper was already standing up when he got over to her. "When? How long?"

"I found out yesterday," Piper said quietly. "The Angel of Destiny told me."

"Oh my god," Leo breathed. He looked to her flat stomach, "Can I…"

Without a word, the witch took his hand and placed it to her stomach.

"This is really happening," Leo whispered. Tears of joy shimmered in his eyes. "After so long…"

"We're going to be parents," she said quietly.

Leo wrapped his hand around her neck and his other cupped the side of her face. Softly, he closed the gap between their lips in a long, passionate kiss. "I love you."

She allowed herself to fall into Leo's loving arms. Piper took his hands in her own and moved them to her stomach. "We love you too, daddy."


End file.
